- Reaction score
- 10,250
This is a bit of an old thread so I'd guess the people asking questions already found their answer but many manufacturers and suppliers have CAD free downloadable files for their products on their website.
I do use AutoCAD MEP for extensive 3D and 2D drawings with multiple layers for different services but obviously it's not free. For simple 2D single layer layout drawings I still use a very old version of Microsoft Visio I once got bundled for free with an old version (probably 2000 or 2003 maybe) of MS Office Pro and it still runs fine on the latest windows.
Visio is blisteringly fast because it's shapes based so once you've built up a previously saved assortment of 'shapes' you just drag and drop them, resize and snap them into or group them with other elements. You can also import a basic .dwg or .dxf file into Visio and it will also save a Visio drawing as dxf and dwg CAD formats. I'm sure the later Visio versions are far more featured and probably bloated ...and probably cloud based but I don't know if there's still a free version bundled with the Microsoft Office packages.
I do use AutoCAD MEP for extensive 3D and 2D drawings with multiple layers for different services but obviously it's not free. For simple 2D single layer layout drawings I still use a very old version of Microsoft Visio I once got bundled for free with an old version (probably 2000 or 2003 maybe) of MS Office Pro and it still runs fine on the latest windows.
Visio is blisteringly fast because it's shapes based so once you've built up a previously saved assortment of 'shapes' you just drag and drop them, resize and snap them into or group them with other elements. You can also import a basic .dwg or .dxf file into Visio and it will also save a Visio drawing as dxf and dwg CAD formats. I'm sure the later Visio versions are far more featured and probably bloated ...and probably cloud based but I don't know if there's still a free version bundled with the Microsoft Office packages.
